Art

Section

Art

Prismatic Murals by Alberonero Use Carefully Calculated Colors to Form Dynamic Compositions

Italian artist Alberonero uses carefully calculated fields of color to form prismatic murals on walls around the world. The artist places subtly shifting tones side by side, which creates a sense of movement as warm-hued chevrons push into cool blues and greens, and square blocks of color seem to tumble in all directions. In addition to his painted outdoor murals, Alberonero also works in tile, and creates a variety of wall-hung work. You can see more of his brightly hued pixelated pieces on Instagram and Facebook. (via PLAIN Magazine)

Art

Stainless Steel Razor Blades Compose Sculptures of Garments and Household Objects by Tayeba Begum Lipi

“Recallin 3” (2014), Stainless steel razor blades, 11 x 9.1 x 21.3 inches, image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

Bangladeshi artist Tayeba Begum Lipi recreates memory-laden objects by connecting thousands of razor blades, transforming the sharp metal tools into tennis shoes, wheels for strollers, sewing machines, sensuous fabrics, and more. Lipi’s sculptures address female marginality and speak most specifically to violence facing women in Bangladesh. The razor blades also references her memories of witnessing the birth of her nieces and nephews as a child growing up in the small town of Gaibandha, where the tool was often used during delivery.

In addition to being an artist, Lipi also founded the Britto Arts Trust in 2002 with her husband Mahbubur Rahman. The organization is dedicated to creating opportunities for other Bangladeshi artists through exhibitions, residencies, and educational activities. Her solo exhibition This is What I Look(ed) Like with Sundaram Tagore Gallery in New York will present several new razor blade sculptures in addition to photography and video works. The show opens on May 2, and runs through June 1, 2019. You can see more of Lipi’s razor blade sculptures, in addition to her collection of safety pin sculptures, on Sundaram Tagore Gallery’s website.

“Recallin 3” (detail) (2014), Stainless steel razor blades, 11 x 9.1 x 21.3 inches, image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

“Miles after Miles” (2015), Stainless steel razor blades, 30 x 32 x 11 inches, courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

“The Rack I Remember” (2019), Stainless steel razor blades and stainless steel, dimensions vary photo by Mahbubur Rahman, courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

“The Stolen Dream” (2013), Stainless steel made razor blades, 27.5 x 20 x 37 inches, image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

“Let’s Take a Break” (2013), Stainless steel made razor blades, stainless steel sheet and water, 64.2 x 28.3 x 18.5 inches, image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

“Not For Me 2” (2018), Stainless steel razor blades, 8 x 9 x 6 inches, photo by Mahbubur Rahman, image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

Still from Unveiling Womanhood (2017), video installation, image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

Art

Sculptural “Agreggations” by Kwang Young Chun Comprised of Thousands of Individually Wrapped Paper Parcels

South Korean artist Kwang Young Chun wraps tiny geometric packages in paper and combines them into massive wall-mounted and freestanding assemblages. Each composition is composed of thousands of individual mulberry paper parcels, carefully toned with tea and pigment and including the abstracted characters that allude to the paper’s origins as old documents. The works, which Chun refers to as ‘agreggations’, feature gradations in color and smooth craters within their highly textured surfaces.

Chun drew inspiration for his signature style from his illness-ridden childhood in Korea and the way that medicine was commonly packaged in triangular paper parcels of mulberry paper, or hanji. The artist was raised in Korea, lived in the United States in the 1960s while completed his M.F.A. at Philadelphia College of Art, and returned to his native country in adulthood.

In an artist statement on his website, Chun describes the disorientation he felt while a graduate student in America, tension and discord between the ways of his upbringing and the cultural modes of the U.S. This experience heightened his drive to express himself as a Korean artist, and in 1995 Chun landed on his current mode of making.

Six of the artist’s agreggations are on view in a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, through July 28, 2019. You can see more of his body of work on his website.

Art

Social Commentary with Surreal Twists in New Paintings by Paco Pomet

“A Journey” (2019), oil on canvas, 130 x 170 cm

Paco Pomet (previously) combines chilling social commentary with humorous juxtapositions of past, present, and future in his satirical paintings. All-new works from 2018 and 2019 include meditations on melting glaciers, differences of opinion in frontier settings, and the symbolism of setting suns. The Spanish artist often combines greyscale and full color within a single painting to draw the viewer’s attention to specific details, like a car driving toward a bubblegum pink slime-slide, and two settlers in neighboring buildings enveloped by different-hued auras.

Pomet’s latest solo show, “No Places”, opens April 4 at Galleri Benoni in Copenhagen, Denmark, and runs through May 10, 2019. You can see more from Pomet on Instagram, and if you enjoy his work, also check out Toni Hamel.

“The End” (2018), oil on canvas, 160 x 200 cm

“Siesta” (2018), oil on canvas, 130 x 170 cm

“The Last Evening” (2018), oil on canvas, 160 x 200 cm

“Ambush” (2018), oil on canvas, 60 x 70 cm

“Same Planet, Different Worlds” (2018), oil on canvas, 65 x 92 cm

“Levante Poniente” (2018), oil on canvas, 130 x 170 cm

“Claim” (2019), oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm

“El Apasionado” (2019), oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm

Art Documentary

Life in Miniature: Medical Devices and Pre-Packaged Foods Immortalized in Tiny Sculptures by Kath Holden and Margaret Shaw

Kath Holden constantly daydreams about the everyday objects she can transform into tiny sculptures. Even during doctor’s appointments, the U.K.-based miniaturist glances around the room to investigate which medical devices she can cull for inspiration. Holden runs Delph Minatures with her business partner and mother Margaret Shaw, a fellow miniature maker who specializes in food-related items such as pre-packaged steaks, baskets of fruit, and trays of brownies.

The pair was recently profiled in Life in Miniature, a short film by Ellen Evans which delves into the women’s studios and their opinions on the world of miniatures. Holden explains that she views other miniaturists as often being stuck in the past. She doesn’t understand the desire to recreate Georgian and Victorian houses, when you could produce objects for ordinary people, and produce objects relevant today. “I like to represent now,” she explains in the film. “The era I life in. If we don’t do miniatures of what we do now, how will it be represented in the future?”

The film premiered at the Sheffield DocFest in June 2018 and was in the official selection for Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Hot Docs, Aspen ShortsFest, and several other festivals. You can view the short documentary in the video above, and learn more about the Holden and Shaw’s wide range of contemporary miniatures on their website.

Art

Dozens of Mirrored Prisms Respond to Movement with Dazzling LED Lights

All images © Alan Tansey

Mirror Mirror, a recent commission by the Alexandria, Virginia’s Office of the Arts, is a reflective semi-circular structure which hides a prismatic array of mirrors at its center. The multi-colored panels are placed at sharp angles within the round sculpture, and refract dazzling, geometric patterns of light as the sun hits its interior. The work was produced by New York-based design studio SOFTlab, who was inspired by the lens used in the city’s historic 19th-century lighthouse. The Fresnel lens was an advanced technology at the time, and uses a series of prisms to create a bright and direct light source as a navigational aid.

In addition to reflecting Alexandria’s waterfront and the surrounding urban environment, the outdoor installation has LED fixtures that respond to visitors’ voices and bodies. Each vertical component of the structure is activated to produce light, allowing the work to be brilliantly illuminated, even after the sun sets. A demonstration of how the sculpture reacts to human movement can be seen in the video below. You can view more works by SOFTlab on their website and Instagram. (via designboom)

Art

Artist JR Transforms the Louvre With a 2000-Piece Paper Optical Illusion

Images via @JRArt on Twitter

With the help of a small army of 400 volunteers, French artist JR (previously) pasted thousands of strips of paper around the Louvre in Paris, turning the courtyard around the museum into a massive optical illusion. Installed in honor of the structure’s 30th anniversary, the collage titled “The Secret of the Great Pyramid” provides a glimpse at what may lie beneath the iconic glass pyramid.

A follow-up to his 2016 work that made the museum disappear against the backdrop of the Louvre Palace, JR’s new illusion reveals a construction site with the tip of the pyramid at its center and a much larger structure extending down into a rocky quarry. In a “Photo of the Day” post on his website, the artist explains that the installation was designed to last a single weekend. “The images, like life, are ephemeral,” JR writes. “Once pasted, the art piece lives on its own. The sun dries the light glue and with every step, people tear pieces of the fragile paper. The process is all about participation of volunteers, visitors, and souvenir catchers. This project is also about presence and absence, about reality and memories, about impermanence.”

Some visitors took pieces of the installation home, while other strips torn by foot traffic have been discarded. To see more of JR’s large-scale photo installations, follow the artist on Instagram.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Marcelo Scarpis (@mscarpis) on Mar 30, 2019 at 8:55am PDT